Thursday, June 27, 2024

N4KGL's 2024 ARRL Field Day

For the 2024 ARRL Field Day, Rick NZ2I of Panama City and I operated from Eastbank Campground in Southwest Georgia on the East side of Lake Seminole. We were a two-operator, two-transmitter Class B Battery entry. We got 350 contacts for 3500 points plus 450 bonus points. The heat was brutal, but we still had fun. Here are some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nfWibga1dUe8SRLh8. I listed Panama City ARC as my club to help the aggregate score.

Enjoy,

Greg N4KGL

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Bay County, FL Field Day June 22/23, 2024

The Bay County ARES Group will operate ARRL Field Day at the Alternate EOC at the Majette Community Center. A planning/info meeting will be at the Community Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 20th, 2024. The setup for Field Day will be from 8 am until noon on June 22nd. Field Day will start at 1 pm CDT and continue for 24 hours. All interested in ham radio are welcome to visit/participate. For more info on ARES, see https://www.baycountyares.org/home.

Field Day is ham radio's open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.




Tuesday, June 4, 2024

2024 ARRL Field Day Beginner's Guide

ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June of each year, thousands of radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups, or simply with friends to operate from remote locations. Check out your local club's plans or camp out with a few friends.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Beginner's Guide to Radio Propagation Indexes

Propagation indexes help determine the reliability of high-frequency amateur radio bands for long-distance communications. This was the topic of our May 20th Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Friday, April 26, 2024

Beginner's Guide to the Florida QSO Party 2024

The Florida QSO Party is April 27/28. Don't miss it.  See FQP details at https://floridaqsoparty.org/. This was the topic of our April 22nd, 2024, Beginner's Academy Zoom.

Monday, April 22, 2024

Florida QSO Party coming on April 27 & 28, 2024


 


The 2024 Florida QSO Party is *this weekend*; we sure hope you'll join us.  All 67 counties will be active.

Please check out the 2023 FQP results and much more at our Web Site: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/


The Florida QSO Party
Object: Everyone works Florida, Florida works Everyone
Activate and work ALL Florida counties
Have as much FUN as possible!

When: April 27 & 28, 2024
Two ten hour operating periods, with a ten hour break:
Saturday, April 27 1600Z (Noon EDT) – April 28 0159Z (9:59 PM EDT)
Sunday, April 28 1200Z (8 AM EDT) - 2159Z (5:59 PM EDT)
20 Hours total

Exchange: RST and County (Florida stations)
RST and QTH (State, Province or Country for non-FL)

Where: 10, 15, 20 and 40 Meters

SUGGESTED OPERATING FREQUENCIES:

CW:       7.020-7.045, 14.025-14.055, 21.030-21.050, 28.030-28.050 MHz

Phone:  7.185-7.245, 14.240-14.295, 21.320-21.350, and 28.450-28.480 MHz
Contacts outside these frequency ranges are still valid; see rules for details.


MOBILE WINDOW:
We expect several Mobile stations will be on and most can be found here:
CW:  7.025-7.035, 14.040-14.050, 21.040-21.050, 28.040-28.050 MHz
If you are not mobile, *please* refrain from calling CQ in these windows.


Categories:
Single Op, Multi Op, Multi-Multi, Mobile, Expedition, Technician and School.
Three power levels: QRP, Low, and High Power.
Use CW, SSB or both.

 

Special Event Award- 2024 FQP Spelling Bee! 

We will have a total of 12 special 1x1 stations whose suffixes spell KEYS.  There will be three stations per suffix.  Contact at least one station of each suffix letter spelling KEYS to earn this award.  These stations will be on both modes and should be very accessible. QSL these 1x1 calls active in FQP via KU9C direct or via Logbook of The World (LoTW).    

The call signs and hosts are: 

CALL    HOST    CTY      

K4K       AI4WW  BRO

N4K       N4WW  ORA

W4K      N4OX    ESC

K4E       K4EJ     PAS

N4E       N1TO    IDR

W4E      NF4A     BAY

K4Y       K3QH    PAL

N4Y       N4UU    ALC

W4Y      WO4O   LAK

K4S       K2SG    HER

N4S       N4SVC SUW

W4S      NN7CW LAK

 


PRIZES: Beautiful color Certificates for top participants
Plaques for top finishing entrants.

Web Site: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/
Detailed rules, past results, plaques, county maps and much more! 

 Be sure to check out the links under the Counties tab to two terrific county-tracking tools by Bob K0RC and Chuck NO5W (thanks guys!).

In addition, Chip N3IW runs a FQP spotting website at http://qsopartyhub.com/fqp-spots.php. Please remember that self-spotting or requesting to be spotted is not allowed (exception for spelling bee 1x1 stations only).

 

ACTION REQUIRED!!!

Florida Stations of all types – please go to the FQP website and register your fixed, mobile, rover and 1x1 Spelling Bee operations; just click on the “Counties" link and then the Activation Forms to get started – thanks!

Saturday Registration Form:  https://floridaqsoparty.org/counties/saturday-route/

Sunday Registration Form:  https://floridaqsoparty.org/counties/sunday-route/

*PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW YOUR ENTRY FOR ACCURACY BEFORE SUBMITTING*


Logs in Cabrillo format can be uploaded (preferred) at: https://fqp.contesting.com/fqpsubmitlog.php

or emailed to logs@floridaqsoparty.org; Paper logs via US mail to: Florida QSO Party, c/o Ron Harps, K8NZ, 1997 Willow Glen Ln Columbus, OH 43229-1550.

Any questions or feedback? Please feel free to reply to me via email:

cqdenx4n@gmail.com

We highly encourage you to sign up to the FQP email Group fqp@groups.ioAnyone wishing to subscribe to the FQP email reflector may go to this link to sign up:  https://groups.io/g/FQP - Just click on the blue "Join this group" button below and follow the directions.

 

THANK YOU in advance for making the 2024 FQP another terrific event – see you then!

FQP - So Bright, you gotta wear Shades! 

😎


73,
Chris, NX4N, on behalf of:

Chris, W4WF and Dan, K1TO – President and Past President
Florida Contest Group, proud sponsors of the FQP since 1998

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Countdown to the April 6th, 2024 RaDAR Rally

RaDAR is Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio. The next RaDAR Rally is April 6th, 2024. See the details at www.radarrally.info. All ham radio operators are welcome to participate.